Canada’s New Startup Visa, Available Through Planet Hatch, Will Help to Retain Top Entrepreneurial Talent

Canada has a new strategy to encourage business development and growth and it involves giving talented immigrant entrepreneurs and their team the ability to get startup visas to start their businesses here and gain permanent residency. This new program will work to attract the brightest entrepreneurs to Canada, and depending on the type of startup visa that they gain, give them certain opportunities to launch, promote, and grow their business.

The Three Types of Startup Visas

With each type of startup visa you will receive permanent residency for up to five founders, however, the requirements for each differ slightly.

Venture Capital: Must secure a $200,000 investment from a venture capital fund.

Angel Investor: Must secure a $75,000 investment from an angel investor group.

Business Accelerator or Incubator: No investment needed, however, must be accepted into a program. (That’s where we come in!)

About Planet Hatch

We connect early-stage startups with resources, including a business acceleration program, a program for Growth Stage companies, coaching, mentoring, funding, collaborative space and tools, to take their idea to commercial reality. With these programs and resources we have helped over 30 businesses and together they have raised $5.4 million.

Planet Hatch was accepted as the New Brunswick accelerator to implement the startup visa program, and is only one of three in Atlantic Canada. This program will not only promote business growth and development in our region but also ensure that we are gaining some of the smartest and most driven entrepreneurs.

Customer Traction and Market Validation: Do you have customers? Are they paying? Do you have any signed partnerships? If yes, how many and who? Have you done a Market Research of the North American Market? Do you understand the market you are hoping to enter? Have you made industry connections? What are your addressable market segments? Who are your competitors?

Business Model & Scalability: What are your distribution channels? What are your expected customer acquisition strategies? What is your revenue model?

Prototype & MVP: Are you able to demonstrate to us what you have built thus far? (we are not accepting business in ideation phase) o you have control of the IP? Is your idea result of reserach at university level?

Team: Who is part of your founding team? What skills are available in your team?Do you have a cross-functional founding team? Is your team coachable?

We want to make sure that your team will be the right fit for our program. These requirements are set in place to ensure that you can make the most of our mentorship programs, and resources. Although above is a list of requirements, we also look for other qualities that make great entrepreneurs. We want to see that you are a hard-working, persevering, and diligent team. That you not only have made a viable business but that you will put forth the effort and time necessary to continue to grow.

If this sounds like you and you are an immigrant entrepreneur looking to start your business in our region then please fill out this expressions of interest form here. We will be reviewing these every 6 months.